


Brother and Sister

by Kirbstering



Category: OneShot (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-16 12:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17550005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirbstering/pseuds/Kirbstering
Summary: A few days after their mother passed, Calamus must come to accept the reality of their situation. Left with only his sister, he must find ways to move forward. Can he find the strength and courage he needs to move forward?





	Brother and Sister

Calamus hardly believed it. He knew this would happen eventually, yet even now, it was hard to accept what had happened. A few days had passed since his mother passed from this world. He and his sister, Alula, were now alone. They had no one to look after them.

The new grave of his mother in front of him, Calamus stood by his lonesome as he looked down at the few words written on it. This was the first opportunity he had without Alula by his side since she passed on from the world. Ever since then, he had held in his emotions for the sake of her. He knew, now more than ever, he needed to be strong for her. His mother had been ill for many months, and the two were always deep in conversation with one another. She would teach him many things over those final months so he would be prepared to look after his sister. He would need to be her new guardian. Yet could an upcoming teenager like him possibly be able to do all she had?

Many emotions raced through his mind as he looked down at her resting place. Above all, this intense feeling of sadness washed over him. His face draped in an evident sadness, he dropped down to his knees and placed his right hand on top of the grave. He wiped away some dirt that lay top, as if its removal paid respects to her. Before he was able to do anything else, he felt even further emotion escape from him. This time, in the form of tears. He closed his eyes and put his arm up to his face as the tears fell on the feathers on his arm. While a horrible feeling, it did feel nice to finally let out these emotions. He opened his white ghostly eyes once again, his emotional state slightly better.

"Mother... Thank you. I promise I'll look after Alula. We'll be fine, so... don't you worry. You and father may be gone, but we'll always remember what you taught us."

He placed a singular flower he found nearby earlier, next to the ones he and Alula had placed when they visited on the day she left them. A smile on his face, he felt some confidence well up from within him. He was able to recall the happy times they had all shared together. As long as he kept to these memories, she would never truly leave them. That is something she had told him many years ago, and he never once forgot those words. He was able to clearly visualise her appearance; an even lighter shade of blue compared to Alula adorned her from head to talon. He could always remember her by Alula being with him, too.

"Calamus?" A voice called out from nearby, which caused him to slightly jump in surprise. He turned around to see his friend, Cedric, positioned a few metres away from the humanoid bird.

“Ah, Cedric… I’m sorry for taking so long.”

Cedric shook his head. “No need to apologise, Calamus. I am fine waiting as long as I need to.”

Calamus turned his head around slightly, his mother’s grave visible in the corner of his eye. He then proceeded to look Cedric right in his eyes, and nod his head with that same smile plastered on his face. He also had friends to support him. He knew that now.

“Are you… ready to leave now?” Asked Cedric. Despite his choices of words, Calamus could tell he meant no offence by what he said. It was probably for the best they left now, rather than later. Alula was by herself, and he worried what she might be up to without him around. He nodded in reply.

“Then let us be on our way.” Cedric said as the two of them made their way in the opposite direction of the grave.

Roughly a hundred metres away laid a large machine with what looked like large wooden wings. Except these wings were straight and with no feathers. In the centre of these wings was a large body that stretched the opposite direction of the wings. This was Cedric’s machine, which was dubbed ‘the flying machine’. As the name suggested, this allowed them to fly in the sky and travel to places they could otherwise not get to. There was a certain humour to be found in a bird species like Calamus’ not being able to fly. It would certainly make travelling a lot easier if they could.

Cedric jumped into the body of the flying machine. He gestured Calamus to do the same, which he followed suit. He had been in the flying machine a few times, so he knew the procedures at this point. He was told by Cedric that because of the flying machine, he wore his green goggles all the time. He transported people all the time, as well as travelled to many parts of the world to see how everything fared. It was on one of his flights where he landed near the ruins and met the two of them. Soon after, they all became friends. While Calamus did not know all too much about Cedric or where he came from, that did not matter much to him. He was glad he and Alula had a friend. This was extremely valuable now they are on their own, especially as their lives out in the ruins can get somewhat lonely.

 

It took them around ten minutes before the flying machine landed next to large ruins covered in thick greenery. Here, nature ran wild in certain locations of the Glen. Some areas lower in ground level had started to become inaccessible due to being flooded. Many of their species made a life from fishing, with the two of them a rare exception. As the waters has slowly begun to rise, so too has the fish as they are now even more accessible due to more areas of water available. Calamus was taught how to fish at a young age from his father, and has since become a stable source of food for all of them. It was one of the few things he remembered about his father before he decided to leave the village they lived in and never return. He was thankful for the skills he taught him.

Calamus jumped out of the flying machine, with Cedric still inside. He looked back at his friend, who gave a clear indication he would remain inside.

“Please take care of yourself, Calamus. If you ever need me, I will come back soon to see you two. Hopefully Alula can be with you next time.”

“Thank you for your help, Cedric. I—” He was cut off as he remembered the name he spoke. “Oh, um… Alula? Where could she have gone? I don’t see her anywhere…”

“You said she likes to wander the ruins? She might have ventured somewhere in there. She clearly is not here.”

No matter where Calamus looked, he saw no trace of his sister. She was supposed to wait for them in this very location.

“Maybe she went back into our room. I really hope she did. Oh, Alula…” Calamus had a distraught look on his face. Alula liked to wander around the ruins, which was true. Yet now was not the time for her to disappear. Why did she not listen…

“Um, I think I should go now. Check up on Alula and see if she is okay. Um, thanks for helping me out.” He gave his friend one last friendly look before he turned away. He heard the loud roar of the flying machine behind him, a signal for when it was about to take off.

He walked to the interior of the ruins, the change in light a sudden change which required a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to. Vines twisted across the walls and ceilings helped illuminate the darkness within. The ruins were quite large, with some rooms extended for a few hundred metres. He was not entirely sure what these ruins used to be for. Perhaps there were other people before them, yet he saw little else around that suggested such a thing. His mother was not sure if others existed here prior, either. The only notable resident was Maize, a plant spirit located outside the ruins itself. However, her health has suddenly began to deteriorate one day… This was likely due to the disappearance of the sun. As such, more and more vines began to appear within the ruins, with some rooms now completely blocked. He was too afraid to see Maize, yet he did feel sympathy for her.

After a short walk, Calamus arrived back to their room. It was a decently sized room with a relatively simple layout. They had a small kitchen where their mother used to cook; a few beds with one now unused; desks and chairs; and a bookshelf which contained a variety of different subjects. Calamus liked to read the books found in it often, as he would always learn something new from them. Now was not the time and admire them, however. He needed to find Alula. No matter where he looked, she was nowhere to be found in the room. He called out her name, yet no response.

“Alula, where did you…”

A panic overcame him. What if someone took her away? What if she got lost? What if she—

No. This was Alula. She would not simply get… lost. Or be snatched away by someone. She was smarter than this. He told himself to be calm… and a few seconds later, he pulled himself together and decided he would go on a search for her. And thus, the second journey of the day began for him.

 

An hour had passed. He went left and right within the ruins, with not a single evidence of life in sight. Not even a blue feather to suggest his sister was around. The more time passed, the greater his worry. He tried his best to remain calm. When their mother was with them, she was able to locate where she was with ease. How was she able to find her with such ease…?

It was no use. He was exhausted from his searches and the mental pressure. As much as he wanted to continue the search, he felt tired. He needed to go back. With his mind weary, he retraced his steps. He knew most of the ruins’ layout, so the journey back should not be too difficult. That was the logic behind this thought. However, after a minute had been travelled, he came to realise how difficult this was. Between his worry and the journey to visit his mother, he had hit the capacity of what he could do in a single day. Physically, he was fine. Yet mentally, behind the pale white eyes, he was exhausted.

“No… I can’t lose Alula as well…” He whispered to himself.

It was then he decided he needed a few minutes to recharge. He slowly walked on over to a wall which was freed of vines and sat down in front of it. This was the first time in many hours where he had the chance to rest his body. He needed this. All this was too much for one boy.

'I’ll be fine,' he thought to himself. 'I’ll be fine. I’ll be… fine…'

Before he realised it, he had completely zoned out. The world turned dark, and his brain switched off. It was peaceful. Yet, for some unknown reason, he thought he could hear something… distant. He mentally shrugged off the sound. Clearly, this was all in his imagination. Yet, no matter how many times he tried to silence the noise, its volume increased, to a point where all he could hear was that laugh. That familiar laugh. That—

Wait! The laugh! It… it was Alula’s. His eyes shot open. He blinked several times to ensure he was fully awake. He listened once again with all his focus. The laughter was still there. He traced the direction of the noise, and it seemed to… come from his right? Yet, all there was to that direction was another entrance to a room. However, he already checked inside. He could have sworn he visited there.

“Alula…?” He called out quietly as he slowly approached the room.

Nothing. It was empty, sans for a few puddles of water. Yet the laughter… somehow grew louder. What… what happened? His mind began to race. Why did he hear Alula’s laughter, in a room filled with nothing? This made no sense. He stumbled, and felt the entire world around him spin.

'Ngh… What… my mind… It… Ow—!'

He found himself bump into a… wall? No, this was not a wall. It was soft. The last he remembered, the walls of the ruins were not soft. He turned around to see what he had bumped into. Their green colour and luminescence was unmistakable. They were vines. He reached out to touch them, and upon doing so, caused them to move. He let out a surprised cry as the vines themselves moved slightly. The direction they moved revealed something rather interesting—light. It was not much, yet a different sort of light shone in his eyes. He blinked a few times. Curious, he poked the vines once more. They continued to retract, and before long, what looked like a new entrance opened up. So this…

He stepped through the new entrance. He was greeted with grass on the ground. He was… outside? He was at first confused with what he had found. Why was he outside? He walked forward several steps, then saw something which he did not expect.

“Calamuuuus!”

His sister yelled out to him, who was situated at what looked to be the end of the narrow pathway. The unmistakable blue feathers of Alula stook out among all the green within this area. At first he wondered why she was here. Then, he saw it. Next to her was someone he recognised. Someone that, while they had not seen each other much, did also live within the ruins. He ran up to them, the smile returned to his face.

“Alula! And… Maize?”

He looked over at the other figure, covered in green and yellow from head to toe. Vines stuck out from around her. The powerful plant spirit, protector of the Glen, was right in front of him. Yet he had no idea she was here.

“Alula, what are you—?”

His sister cut him off. “I’m visiting Maize! Like I always do!”

“Like you… always do? Since when have you—”

“Huh? Didya never know? Or did mum keep that from you?” She had a rather cheeky look on her face after her last question. Calamus responded with a rather unamused expression.  
“Calamus,” the plant spirit caught his attention. “I am… glad you could also be here. I have something I wish to tell you both…”

“Maize? Um, what is it…?”

She opened her eyes and looked straight at him, as the bright yellow of them almost seemed to provide a certain warmth to him. “This world… Do you know its current state? About what is going to eventually happen?”

He slightly cocked his head to his side, unsure the direction she headed with this. “The… current state? The sun is gone, but asides from that, I don’t notice anything else different. Well, asides from there being more water than usual...”

She gave a slight sigh, and laughed slightly. “Oh, Calamus… Even your sister notices. This world is changing. And so are all of we. Myself especially…”

“Yourself…?” After he asked that simple question, he took a good look at the plant spirit in front of him. Now that he had time to analyse her entire body, there was something that… did feel off. Yet he could not place a feather on it.

Maize sighed, and she looked over at the blue bird. Alula jumped in on the conversation right as she looked at her.

“Brother… Maize is like mum. She’s sick. That’s why I’m here; so she isn’t alone and she can smile.” Alula grew serious for a moment, her smile gone. It was almost as if she had turned into him for a moment as she displayed a moment of maturity. For someone like her, this was rare. Yet it was also a pleasant sight.

“Sick…!?” Calamus placed a hand up to his face, shocked. The dark shades of red of his feathers hid his hand in the process, so it looked like he only had wings in that moment. “Like… like mother?”

Alula said not a word. She looked over at Maize. Once that was pointed out, Calamus saw it much more clear. The colouration on the plant spirit was slightly duller, especially the yellows. He was unsure if this were the case or part of his imagination, yet it seemed like she was slightly more lethargic than usual. It could have been an illusion, as he had not seen her in quite a while.

“I have watched you both for a long time,” Maize began to speak once again. “You, Alula, and your mother… How hard you all have worked together; the love each of you have for each other. It brings me such joy to see such…”

Maize let out a sudden cough. Calamus tried to speak, yet was interrupted by her once again.

“I won’t be around forever. With the sun gone, so too has much of the light. I need the sunlight to survive... “ She opened her eyes to look at the two of them. She forced a smile. “I am not sure how much longer I have. It might be a few weeks, or a few months. If I’m lucky, maybe a year… My point is, eventually I will leave. The Glen won’t have anyone to protect it. As you know…”

Alula spoke up out of nowhere. “You’re the spirit of the Glen! Mum told me that. You’re the reason everything here’s together. You must be so strong to do all that.”

Maize smiled in response to that. “Your mother said that? I wish I could have met her… I have seen her from afar, and she seemed like a wonderful mother. I wish… I had that in my life.”

Calamus was left speechless after what she had said. He looked down at the ground as he attempted to formulate words to say. He was not ready to accept this. Not today. Not so soon, after their mother had passed on from the world. They did not know much about Maize, yet somehow she seemed like a true friend to those both of them. After many thoughts raced through his head, he somehow was able to find the words he needed to say.

“Maize… It sounds like you’ve had such a lonely life. I never realised how lonely it must be for someone like you. Um… Perhaps… perhaps we could visit you oft—”

“Every day!” Alula interrupted.

“...every day.” Calamus smiled. “Every day, we can visit you. That way, you don’t have to be lonely anymore. With our mother gone, things have also been lonely for us. We have each other, but…”

“But without mum, Calamus has been sad.” Alula added, a mix of serious and silly within her tone.

“A-Alula!” He exclaimed, caught off guard by her words. “Th-that’s not…!”

“Calamus…” Maize said under soft breath, her eyes still close. However, a single tear could be seen which escaped from an eye. “Thank you… I would love that. And…” She opened her eyes, a few more droplets visible. “I know how hard it must be for you. There is no need to be sad over all this. You hide your emotions from everyone, yet that only makes it harder on yourself. Your mother raised such a caring boy. That… that is something you should be proud of you.”

“M… Maize…?” Suddenly, he too felt his eyes water. He did not expect any of this, yet the words hit far too close to his own heart. It is rare anything were to make him cry. Yet here he was, now an emotional mess after everything the plant spirit had said to him. To hear such words from someone as incredible as the plant spirit of the Glen was an incredible honour.

Alula ran over to him, and with a powerful force wrapped her arms around his body. The blue and red feathers meshed with one another. Through his blurry vision, he was able to see the face of Alula below him. The familiar white eyes stared up at him. It was then he realised something important. Their mother lived on through not only her, yet them both. Their father, too. Alula probably did not remember much of their father, yet he did remember some details about him. He had no idea why he had to leave, or where he went. Not even their mother knew. He never did return, even after all this time. Yet their memories of them meant they would truly never disappear. As long as they remained together and helped each other through life, they would be okay. And they could always remember them.

“Calamus… Alula…” Maize finally spoke once again. “The bond you two share is special. Please, promise me you will always be there for each other, no matter what. This world is probably going to face a lot of hardship. More and more people will probably be very afraid, lose hope, and forget their trust and love in other people… This world will need more of what you two have. Eventually, a saviour might come to save us all. If that day does ever come… I want you to help them. I also want you to guide them to me. If it isn’t too late… there may still be hope.”

With the two still grasped onto each other, Calamus gave Maize a firm nod. He felt like he finally had the confidence again to be the cheerful and supportive brother he was meant to be. He would not forget everything their mother had done for them. This was a day he would never forget. Lots of bad things happened, and there may be a lots of bad things in the future as well. Yet there was also hope. That hope is what kept all of them going. Calamus, Alula, and Maize. He was sure others felt that way, too. Perhaps Cedric did, as well. Whatever he did out in the world.

“Now… I must sleep,” Maize said, this time at a slower pace. “I am… feeling rather tired. With the sun gone, I haven’t the energy to do what I used to be able to do. Yet… I cannot wait to see you both tomorrow. I want to show you two something special then…”

With that, the vines around her slowly crept up to her and wrapped around her body. Was this how she kept her energy? It was certainly a smart approach to conserve energy, especially without the sun. They both realised that was the end of their visit. It was time to go back home. Alula let go, yet Calamus reached out with his hand. She grabbed it.

“Let’s go home, and make some of that yummy fish stew mum would make for the both of us.”

Alula’s face lit up. “FISHSTEWFISHSTEWFISHSTEWFISHSTEW—!”

And suddenly, Calamus was carried around by his sister as she excitedly ran toward their home, his hand still in hers. That definitely caught him by surprise. Yet it was a nice surprise. Throughout their travels back, his mind was on only one thing—the future. In the depths of his mind, he thought of one simple thing. A message to his mother.

'Mother… Please, if you are watching… Look after us both. I promise to look after Alula the best I can. I will make you proud. I love you.'


End file.
